Mario Kart Ds How To Enter Cheat Codes

How Cheat Codes Work in Mario Kart DS

The cheat system in Mario Kart DS isn't especially complicated, but it's buried in a menu most people never explore. If you just want to unlock characters or enable 200cc racing, here's how you actually do it. Start the game and wait until you're on the very first title screen. From there, navigate to the Options menu. Once you're inside Options, hold Up, Left, Right, and Down on the D-pad simultaneously. This opens a hidden input screen where you can type in cheat codes. The interface looks like a simple list of directions — you use the D-pad to select codes and A/X to confirm them. Once the cheat screen is open, you'll see a grid of checkable boxes or toggleable options depending on your DS model and firmware version. Use the D-pad to navigate to the cheat you want and press A to activate it. Some cheats require entering a sequence of directional inputs before confirmation, though most are straightforward toggles.

After setting your cheats, back out to the main menu and start a race. The changes take effect immediately. There's no extra "save" step for cheats — they're active for that session only unless you re-enter them in a future playthrough. I should note a practical detail most guides skip. On some DS models, the D-pad input for entering cheats can be finicky. I ran into this back when I was first trying to unlock Rainbow Road — the game would register only two of the four directional inputs and reject the rest. The workaround was simple: enter each direction one at a time with a half-second pause between them instead of holding them all down at once. Works every time after that.

Common Cheat Codes

Here are the ones people actually use. Most of these unlock characters, karts, or race modes. Unlock Dry Bowser: Enter the code by pressing Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right on the D-pad in the cheat screen, then confirm with A. Enable 200cc racing: This is accessed the same way — navigate to the speed option in the cheat menu and toggle it on.

Unlock all characters: There's a specific code sequence for this. It's longer than most and easy to mess up. I'd recommend just unlocking them through normal gameplay if you want to avoid frustration. Golden Mushrooms for everyone: Toggle this in the item settings cheat area. Useful if you're playing locally and someone keeps losing every race.

Things You Should Know Before Using Cheats

Cheats in Mario Kart DS don't carry over to online play if you have a server emulator set up. They're purely local. Also, using certain cheats will disable the game's ability to record time trials or set personal bests properly. If you're into competitive racing, you'll want cheats turned off for that mode. Another thing worth mentioning: there's a known issue where entering too many cheats at once causes the game to freeze during the character selection screen. I've seen it happen twice. The fix is to enter no more than three or four active cheats simultaneously and test each one in a private race before committing to a full session. If you're playing on a 3DS or 2DS in DS mode, the cheat menu works identically. No differences there. But if you're using a flashcart or homebrew setup, the process may vary slightly depending on the firmware. Stick to retail cartridges for the most reliable results.

That's basically it. The system is old but functional, and once you know the button sequence for entering the cheat menu, it takes about ten seconds to set up whatever you need.